Ora Banda Mining has recorded high-grade hits from extensional drilling at its Main Lode prospect under the Riverina open pit that has increased mineralisation at the deposit to more than 350m below surface.
The company has completed 12 holes of a planned 30-hole campaign at the project north-west of Kalgoorlie with assay highlights including a 1.2m hit at an impressive 29.3 grams per tonne gold from 359m in addition to 2.8m going 6 g/t gold from 357m. Notably, both hits came from 100m below the previous drill depth.
Additional high-grade results from Main Lode include 3m at 19.1 g/t gold from 147m and a 2m hit going 12.1 g/t gold from 178m.
Importantly, the company says it has now proven the continuity of the deposit for more than 1km whilst remaining open in all directions with further high-grade hits predicted at depth.
Additional drilling of Ora Banda’s Murchison lode, only 80m east of Main Lode, has also recorded high-grade hits including a 0.3m hit at a whopping 171 g/t gold from 325m with abundant visible gold identified in the assay.
The most recent drilling at Murchison also produced a number of other highlights including a 1m strike at 30.8 g/t from 181m, a 4.9m hit going 4.4 g/t gold from 34m and a 1.4m intersection running 17.8 g/t gold from 12m which included a 0.5m section at an impressive 52.2 g/t gold.
Ora Banda says historical drilling at Murchison was believed to be focused on low-grade near the surface mineralisation with limited testing at depth. However, the latest results show high-grade extensions remain open at depth over a 700m strike length.
Current exploration at the Riverina project is the first diamond drill campaign at the site in more than 12 months. The remaining 18 holes are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Ora Banda Mining CEO and Managing Director, Luke Creagh said: “We currently have two drill rigs operating at Riverina till the end of December and if the results remain consistent with those recently returned, the company should be in a good position to make a mining investment decision by the June quarter of next year.”
In April this year the company announced a strategic reset after a detailed review of its flagship Davyhurst mining and processing operations, about 120km north-west of Kalgoorlie.
Last month Creagh was also appointed Managing Director of the company after initially joining the gold miner in the executive role in July.
Part of the new strategy for the company includes developing the Riverina underground complex based on the existing infrastructure in the area and the potential to simply develop a mine portal from the current open pit. Ore from Riverina has been processed at Davyhurst with recoveries of around 92 per cent.
With the extension of the Main Lode at depth and the high-grade results from the Murchison lode, Ora Banda appears to be on the path to developing an underground operation at Riverina to increase production at Davyhurst in the not-too-distant future.
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By Matt Birney
